GET MESSY | SEASON OF WORDS | 2

This week I started to actually alter my book for it's new life as an art journal.

This was a difficult process as I am not very patient and usually work in a number of journals / scraps of paper to avoid having to wait for things to dry.

I also purchased the mysterious modge podge to help prep some of my pages before painting and abusing them. This stuff is cool - like watery PVA that I got quite into layering, mixing with acrylic and using it to blend felt tipped areas.

I ended up creating quite a bit and I am really happy with the direction my book is heading in. Seeing as we had no actual written prompts this week, I used quotes from the beginning of the times travelers wife as well as thinking about my book and it's original story. Under The Greenwood Tree is broken into four sections; winter, spring, summer and autumn. I want to reflect these themes as I progress within the book so for the moment, we are in winter.

This Book

- felt tips

I wanted to illustrate the front of the book in a vintage style and I loved the text so kept as it was. I also love how you can see the person who owned this has filled in their name, although I can't make it out. Maybe Cornelius? Which just makes me think of the adviser from Babar. Not that that's a bad thing.

Title

- watercolour & photoshop

I couldn't quite bring myself to paint or draw over this ornate William - Morris style illustration. The paper is too porous to do anything precise and I think it would just get lost. So I turned to the next best thing - Photoshop. I like the modern, abstract watercolour background and think it works well with the nature themed title of the book.

Winter

- ink

My second title page, this one for winter. If nothing else, working in an old book as my journal is forcing me to use less product per page and to also become more decisive. There are only so may pages you can rip out and start again and the book won't hold many layers of paint to hide errors...

Fleeting

- collage, felt tips, modge podge, washi tape and photoshop

These two pages follow naturally on from one another, finishing the quote "Us, the most fleeting of all"

I like the mention of fleeting as it reminds me of childhood, seasons and memories. I drew a little J me, fleeting along with the words...

I used modge podge to smudge the felt tip shading and because I was packing on the layers at this point - had to re-inforce with washi!

My text was getting a little lost in it all so I overwrote in photoshop to make the quote bold again.

Time

- felt tip & acrylic

I was inspired by this pin from the Get Messy Pinterest and again, used a quote from the time travelers wife (I am linking this season with the book, as explained in week 1 of this project). I like to think of this as a motivational quote for summer and spring coming out of winter. I really hate winter and every year I try to go into it with more positivity and vitamin D... but I always find myself wishing for the longer days and warmer nights as soon as the first frost hits.

Beautiful

- felt tips, modge podge & acrylic

These words were stuck into the book using a modge-podge / acrylic mix. They look enough on the page when you see them in real life but as I scanned it in,

I felt it slightly lacking. I decided to cut and paste the words over the top of a felt tip drawing I had done previously. I like the burst of energy and the bold colours that make me want to believe in everything, all over again.